Face Painting

Face painting for cultural and ceremonial purposes has existed since primitive times. Among African tribal groups and Native Americans, other other peoples, face painting has been an important part of many celebratons and ceremonies, as well as a form of body decoration. In some cases face painting was and is accompanied by piercings and facial adornments.

While Native Americans no longer do face painting on a daily basis, it is often used to demonstrate Native culture and history in special events and ceremonies. In the tradition of face painting, in early times when North America was invaded by the Europeans the Native Americans used face painting when planning or participating in war. The face was made to look as fierce as possible with the intent of intimidating the enemy. Face painting was also a part of celebratory ceremonies.

The many masks available today from South Africa often give indication of the types and styles of face painting used in tribal ceremonies. In some areas, face painting is used in a decorative sense, along with other adornment.

In effect a tradition of face painting is continued today in the form of tatoos, a more permanent form of face and body painting, again often accompanied by various types of piercings. Tatooing is done on both face and body, as was face and body painting originally done.

There must be an instinct in the human being to decorate his face and body, though no longer practiced by a majority of most populations. Children love to have their faces painted when the opportunity arises in carnivals and fairs. Particularly with children, care should be exercised in the use of materials for face painting to be certain they are pure and harmless.

There are many kits available which allow a child to do face painting or face decorating at home. Face painting can take simple forms, such hearts or a flower, or can involve more complex face painting designs for the adventurous. . Such activities should be supervised by parents

Face painting by adults takes yet another obvious form. The use of cosmetics to beautify, enhance and highlight the human face has spawned an enormous present-day industry, witness the major cosmetic companies and their face painting products. Lipstick, base, blush, eyeliner, mascara an eye shadow all attest to the modern woman's desire to indulge in beautifying face painting. It seems face painting is definitely here to stay.

A last thought in terms of face painting. A wide range of cosmetics are used to do face painting for artists performing on stage and screen, and on television, as well as important individuals in public life.. Every attempt is made, through careful face painting, to show off celebrities and other important persons at their best in the theatre and the movies. Such face painting is performed by expert cosmeticians trained in the art of specialized face painting, designed to hide or emphasize good or poor features in the individual receiving the face painting. From primitive native practices to modern times, including famous royalty, budding teenagers and ambitious business employees, face painting in some form has survived.

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